Arch-supporting pad for shoes



i 7 July 8, 1930. o STARNER 1,770,184

ARCH SUPPORTING PAD FOR SHOES Filed Aug. 6, 1929 l4 4 lnvenTor. 7 null OTis H.STurnr 8 4 v I r V b .fii %yfm v ATTys.

Patented July 8, 1930 UNITED STATES OTIS H. STARNER, OFOARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA ARCH-SUPPORTING PAD FOR SHOES Application filed August 6, 1929. Serial No. 383,831.

This invention relates to a shoe and to a metatarsal arch support to be used in such a shoe.

In some respects the arch support of this invention is somewhat similar to that described in my Patent No. 1,618,684, dated February 22, 1927. The arch support of said patent was intended specially for use in a welt shoe and one feature of my present ino vention is to provide a novel arch support which can-be used equally well with shoes made by any process, and it is especially adapted for so-called cemented shoes in Which the outer sole is secured in place by cement rather than by stitches.

Another object of the invention relates to the novel construction of the arch-supporting member or pad by which it serves to protect the lower end of the steel shank thereby preventing thelatter wearing through either the insole or the outsole. I

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a structure which not only furnishes the proper support for the arch of 2 the foot-but which also serves as a cover for the steel shank thus obviating the necessity of using a leatherboard shank cover, as is usually done.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pad of resilient material which functions as a cushion under the ball of the foot to prevent jarring while walking.

Further objects of the invention are to improve arch-supporting shoes in the particulars hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a selected embodiment of my invention, Fig. .1 is a side View partly broken out of a shoe having my improvements embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the shoe embodying my invention, a portion of the outsole being broken out to better show the arch-supporting member and the shank;

Fig. 3 is an under side view of the archsupporting member or pad;

Fig. 4 is an edge View;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66, Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77, Fig. 3. In the drawings 1 indicates a shoe having the usual insole 2 and outsole The outsole may be secured to the shoe in any usual way such as by means of stitches or other fastenings or by means of cement.

The arch-supporting member or pad embodying my invention is indicated generally at 4. This will preferably be made of a resilient compound and thus be yielding and resilient and also has the special shape shown.

In plan view it has a shape somewhat similar to the arch-supporting member in my above-mentioned Patent No. 1,618,684.

The outer edge 5 is generally convex from the point or front6to the end of the shankend The opposite side presents the convexlycurved edge 8 extending from the point 6 to the point 9 and the concavely-curved edge 10 extending from the point 9 to the rear end 7.

The arch-supporting pad 4 is formed on its under side at the front portion thereof with 7 the relatively flat face 11 and at the rear portion with the slightly concave face 12. These two faces 11 and 12 have an angular relation and meet in a well-defined edge 13 and which extends from the point 9 to the opposite edge 5. The top surface 14 is slightly convex transversely and the edges 5, Sand 10 where the top and bottom surfaces meet are relatively sharp.

In the manufacture of shoes at the presout time, the tendency becomes more and more pronounced to construct the shoe to fit the bottom of the foot more perfectly. A recent -development along these lines is to shape the insole to conform to the contour 8 of the bottom of the foot. Thisinvention is concerned with that portion of the insole adjacent the position of the ball of the foot and at the break of the outsole. Depressions are formed in the insole to receive the 9 high points of the ball of the foot at the first and fifth metatarsal joints. The por-' tion of the insole between these two points is slightly raised and must be supported in some manner in order to preserve the shape of the insole. It is one of the functions of the arch-supporting pad presented by this invention to support the intervening portion of the insole between the first and fifth metatarsal joints. The portion of the foot to be serting it between the inner and outer sole with its thickest portion situated at the transverse arch. I

v This pad may be used in any shoe and is resilient property especially adapted for use with shoes in which the outsole is cemented to the shoes instead of being stitched thereto.

. Shoes of the shape herein shown are universally provided with a steel shank shown at 15 for the purpose of preserving the shape of the shank. 1

In the present invention this steel shank 15 is located beneath the rear or shank end of the ball of the foot. This brings the edge 10 inline with the break of the shoe so that the presence of the pad 4 helps to maintain and preserve the proper shape of the bottom of the shoe and causes the weight of the body to be properly transmitted to and evenly distributed over the entire tread of the shoe, including the region closely adjacent the break of the shoe. 7

I claim:

An arch supporting pad adapted to be inserted between the insole and outsole of a shoe in a position to extend in front of and to the the pad and the latter is provided with a recess to receive the lower end of the steel shank thereby to furnish a protection for the same. I

It will be noted that the shank end 16 of the pad is formed on its under side with a shank-receiving groove 17 which extends from a point adjacent the rear edge 7 to a recess 18 formed in the pad 4 directly infront of and above the edge 13. This groove 17 has its greatest depth at the edge 13 and it has a progressively-decreasing depthfrom the'recess 18 toward the edge 7. When the pad is in "place. in the shoe, therefore, the

lower end-19 of the shank 15 is located in therecess 18 and is thereby protected so that it cannot wear through either the outer sole or the insole. -Furthermore, the shank portion of the pad which overlies the shank 15 performs the function of the leather-board shank cover which is commonly used at this point to preserve the shape 9f the bottom of the shoe back of theball, thus obviating the necessity of using a separate element for this purpose.

The shape of this arch-supporting pad with its well-defined edge 13 which is situat ed directly back of the ball of the foot or at the so-called break of the sole serves to maintain the ball line at the break of the shank and ensure a proper tread to the sole and it also serves to add shapeliness to the bottom of the shoe. It also acts'as a shock absorbing device for the ball ,of the foot due to its portant in a high heeled shoe where the welght of the body is carried to a large extent by the ball of the foot.

rear of the break of the outsole, the forward portion of said pad having a substantially flat-under face and the rear or shank portion having an upwardly-inclined under face, said faces meeting in a well-defined edge which extends across the under face of the pad from one edge to the other and which is located at the break of the outsole, the upper face of the pad being vconvexly curved transversely, said pad being widest along said well-defined edge andthe'portion of the pad in front of said edge havlng a general triangular shape, the. outer side edge extendshoe.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

OTIS n. antenna.

a feature which is im- In making a shoe embodying this feature the upper 1s lasted in the usual manner and then before the outer sole is applied, the supportlng pad l with the shank 15 is put in place afterwhich the outer sole'3. is attached to the shoe either by means of stitches or by I cement or any other approved way.

In placing the pad in the shoe it will be placed substantially as shown in Fig. 2 with the edge 10 extending substantially parallel to the edge of the last which is in the rear of 

